'Contaminated' cough syrup linked deaths: NCDS collects water, entomological drug samples

The government's nodal agency for disease surveillance, NCDC, has collected water and entomological drug samples from hospitals and other sites in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where multiple children have died of kidney failure following alleged consumption of contaminated cough syrup.

The samples will be tested to rule out possible of any infectious disease. Once the test results are out they will be shared with the state drug authorities, officials said.

Simultaneously, state drug authorities are testing the drug samples, results of which are still awaited.

The recent deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been linked to a cough syrup, prompting a probe and subsequent ban on the syrup's distribution.

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According to the official sources, a team of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) visited the sites to collect samples.

Six children died in Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh due to kidney failure allegedly after consuming the cough syrup while Rajasthan reported one death in Sikar district.

The Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation (RMSCL) has banned the sale and use of 19 batches of the syrup and the health department has issued advisories to parents, doctors, and medical operators to be vigilant, sources said.

PTI